Shearing school offer for PETA
WAFarmers has launched a Kickstarter campaign to send Jona Weinhofen, the face of PETA's latest anti-shearing campaign, to shearing school for a hands-on education about Australia's wool industry.
Weinhofen is the most recent celebrity to pose for PETA in a misleading advert, which depicts shearing as a barbaric practice that is damaging to animals.
The lamb pictured in the campaign is now widely acknowledged as being made of foam.
WAFarmers President Dale Park said the fake lamb was the first of many misrepresentations in the unethical campaign. "No one that I know would shear a lamb that size - it looks a day old - and certainly they wouldn't tolerate such a low standard of shearing," Mr Park said.
"The PETA campaign preys on people that have no knowledge of shearing practices.
"Shearers are trained in best practice technique and any shearer that did that to a sheep would be out of a job."
It costs $4500 to send a person with no previous experience to shearing school.
If WAFarmers raises this money, it will invite Weinhofen to attend one of these schools.
If WAFarmers exceeds its goal of $4500, it would like to extend the invitation to the staff at PETA, led by the chief executive and marketing department, to clarify any misconceptions they may have.
To support the Indiegogo campaign, visit https:// www.indiegogo.com/ .
Despite admitting the image was fake, PETA is standing by its claims.
PETA spokeswoman Claire Fryer said a recent PETA investigation into shearing sheds across three States in Australia showed systemic abuse, including sheep being punched, kicked, stomped on and beaten around the head with electric clippers and even a hammer.
"Investigators witnessed abuse in every one of the 19 shearing sheds they visited and the Australian Shearing Contractors Association has admitted that abuse is a very real problem within this industry," she said.
